Hey, it's Vic. I wanted to give you a heads up that this episode contains detailed descriptions of experiencing an eating disorder. And there's also some strong language. Please be advised.

In three, two, one.

Food was really, it was a reward, it was a means of communication.

It was a way of letting me know that I was being thought of.

Feeling full was a feeling of, you know, being hugged, basically.

When actress Lynn Chen was a kid, food was not only something she loved, it was a way of connecting

with the people she loved.

So food was everything.

Yeah, I can relate in that sense, you know, growing up in a Chicano household,

grandma and my mom making

tortillas from scratch tamales, like food was warmth in my household. And they wanted you to eat.

My family wanted you to eat. What were your parents like in that regard and just in general? Yeah, I mean, absolutely.

Very similar we would be making, you know, the dumplings from scratch. And there was definitely

household gatherings where everyone would gather around the table, cooking, and then eating. And

I just remember a lot of chopsticks reaching for the communal meal

and putting them on my plate. You know, I'd finish one dumpling and then there'd be three more.

So Lynn quickly learned to clear her plate, but as she grew up, her relationship with food got more and more complicated.

And it started to resemble something that I'm very familiar with.

When I hear the word binge, you know, as you may know, I'm in recovery from drug addiction and binge drinking and binge drug use is something I know. I lived it. And it's similar.

It would be kind of like a covert activity and you would plan around it. It would both make you

feel really good and also cause a lot of pain. Yeah, absolutely. For a long period of my life when I was binge eating,

you know, in my youth, I really did not believe that what was happening to me or my behavior

...